LATEST NEWS
The impact of my research sweeps from accolades in the academy to shaping international conversations about sexuality. Here, you will find the latest news related to my professional pursuits.
Pre-orders Available Now
At long last, pre-orders of Long Live Queer Nightlife are now available directly through Princeton in hardback, as an ebook, and audiobook, featuring Amin El Gamal, the first openly queer Muslim actor to play a lead role in a television series (Prison Break).
Library Journal: It’s a STAR!
A pre-publication review of Long Live Queer Nightlife just dropped. LJ gave the book a starred distinction: “An accessible, absorbing look into an evolving form of queer culture, written by a brilliant sociologist.”
Audiobook: Meet Amin El Gamal
Amin & Amin: a doppelganger duo! My new book with Princeton, Long Live Queer Nightlife, will be narrated by Amin El Gamal (he/they), best known for his role in Prison Break, making him the first openly queer Muslim actor to play a leading role on television.
Page proofs for my new book have arrived
Page proofs for my new book, Long Live Queer Nightlife (Princeton), have arrived. How did the global closure of gay bars revolutionize underground nightlife scenes? The book comes out March 2024. Sign up with Princeton to be notified when preorders are available. See you on the dancefloor!
Hot Off the Presses!
My new article has come out! With Andy Holmes, I examine coming out of the closet and the ways sexuality may provide symbolic resources–“distinguishing but not defining”–in the service of crafting modern sexual identities. New in Theory and Society.
Theory & Society
After 3 years of intensely stimulating work, I’m thrilled to share that my new paper with Andy Holmes, a former UBC undergraduate student of mine and now in the PhD program at Toronto, has been accepted for publication at THEORY & SOCIETY! In “Distinguishing But Not Defining: How Ambivalence Affects Contemporary Identity Disclosures” we theorize how the process of coming out unfolds today. Look for it online this summer.
Contexts Magazine Q&A
Read an interview with Seth Abrutyn and me that we jointly gave to UBC Sociology about our new roles as co-editors of Contexts magazine.
Co-Editor of Contexts Magazine
I am delighted to have been appointed as Co-Editor (with Dr. Seth Abrutyn) of Contexts, the public-facing magazine of the American Sociological Association. Our term officially begins January 1, 2023. This is the first time that the magazine will be based in Canada. It will bring tremendous visibility for UBC Sociology, and incomparable professional opportunities for our graduate students.
SSHRC and CIHR Grants
I am involved in two different interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research teams, both of which have successfully secured major research grants. The first project, an Insight Grant funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, is for “Understanding Decisions to Seek Conversion Therapy in Canada” ($143,125, PI: Dr. Travis Salway). The second project, an Operating Grant funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is for “Displacement and the Health of People Living with HIV” ($447,136, PI: Dr. Rodney Knight).
Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities
I have been successfully renewed for a second term as a Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities. Fifteen UBC researchers were appointed as new and renewed CRCs in the most recent round of the competition.
As stated on the announcement from UBC, the Canada Research Chairs Program is among the highest research designations in the country. It enables Canadian universities to achieve research excellence and become world-class research centres. Chairholders improve our depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthen Canada’s international competitiveness, and help train the next generation of scholars. There are very few scholars from the Arts in this most recent round of the competition, which makes me that much more grateful for the recognition.
Keynote Address, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) has invited me to deliver a keynote address at its upcoming conference in June. I have been tasked to set the agenda for future interdisciplinary and international collaborations on “Studies of Belonging.”
NIAS is the Netherlands’ only independent institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences. Founded in 1970, the Institute is the first of its kind in Europe and the third of its kind in the world.
The Street Empirics of Urban Sexualities
I am delighted to announce my new publication, “Why Gayborhoods Matter: The Street Empirics of Urban Sexualities.”
Urban scholars should listen closely to LGBTQ+ people, whose street-level experiences and interactions facilitate a more nuanced understanding of gayborhoods than the supra-individual patterns distilled by conventional approaches. In other words, the reasons that residents provide for why their neighborhoods appeal to them showcase the analytic power of the streets for understanding what places mean, why they matter, and for cautioning against claims that cultural districts are becoming outmoded or obsolete.
My article is part of Springer’s Urban Book Series. The edited volume in which it was published — The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods — is available, in its entirety, as open access.
Sociological Methodology, Editorial Board
I am delighted to join the editorial board for Sociological Methodology, the only ASA periodical publication devoted entirely to research methods.
People, Protest, and Place
There is a vibrant literature on LGBTQ+ urban geographies, as well as established traditions in sociology and political science on collective action, but research infrequently brings these interdisciplinary fields of sexualities, social movements and urban studies together to explore the emplacement of LGBTQ+ urban activisms. In my new article in Urban Studies, I propose two ways to advance the field.
2020 Distinguished Article Award
My graduate student Ryan Stillwagon and I won the 2020 Distinguished Article Award (Honorable Mention) from the Sociology of Sexualities section of the American Sociological Association for “Queer Pop-Ups: A Cultural Innovation in Urban Life.”